Wednesday, May 23, 2012

I cook three times a day & I try not to keep the left overs from the previous meal. Even after making so many varieties of food, sometimes my family exclaim"not again" & I find it a challenging task to plan my daily menu. I keep looking for interesting alternatives every day & during one such days, the avalakki pundi gatti came to my rescue.

Special utensils needed:A steamer or a pressure cooker without the whistle.

Method:

Coarsely powder the flattened rice.

Boil water in a sauce pan.

Meantime, add the oil to a broad vessel. When oil is hot, add mustard seeds followed by urad & chana dal. When dal turns golden brown, add curry leaves. When curry leaves wilt, add the boiling water to it. Add the salt. Reduce the heat to medium low.

Add the coarsely powdered flattened rice to the boiling water & start mixing thoroughly until the flattened rice is completely cooked. It will form a single mass & starts leaving the edges & the bottom of the vessel. (Refer notes below # 2). Mine took around 5-7 mins.

Add sufficient water to the steamer & keep the steamer on medium-high heat.

Grease the plate on which these balls will be placed.

Keep cold water next to you & start making balls using the hot dough ready. Dip your hands in cold water, take lime sized dough & form either a fist or a ball with that dough. Keep the ball on the greased plate & repeat the procedure for the remaining dough.

Place the plate/thali in the steamer & reduced the heat to medium. Cook for 30-40 mins.

Let them cool for a couple of minutes & then serve them with a chutney of your choice.

Notes:

For 2.5 cups of flattened rice, I got 2 cups of the coarsely grounded flattened rice. The idea is to use 1:2. For every 1 cup of coarsely grounded flattened rice, use 2 cups of water.

Gently wet your fingers & touch the hot dough. If the dough isn't sticky, then you are done.